Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: How do I find out if I am entilted to any inheritance

Arnold and Peter are both correct. Contact the Surrogate's office in the County where your father resided at his date of death to see if a Will has been submitted for probate. If so, you can see a copy there or get a copy mailed to you for a nominal fee. If there was no Will, check to see who has been appointed or applied to be administrator of his estate, and contact them or their lawyer. Do you have a birth certificate and, if so, is your father listed in it as your father? You may need this to assert your claim, unless you were specifically mentioned and disinherited by his Will.

Re: How do I find out if I am entilted to any inheritance

If your father left a Will and did not specifically disinherit you, you maybe entitled to claim an intestate share. If, however, you are specifically named and disinherited, you are most likely out of luck.

If there is no Will, you are likely going to share with the other children after the surviving spouse receives $50,000, plus one-third of the estate.

Any property held jointly, or in trust for, is not part of the estate and automatically passes to the named survivor or beneficiary.

The Will, if any must be filed for probate in the county where your father resided at his death.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon in any way. All readers are advised to consult an attorney to address their specific legal concerns.

Re: How do I find out if I am entilted to any inheritance

What you would need to do is find out if your father had a will and whether anything was left to you. If he had no will, you will be entitled to receive a portion of his intestate share.

If there was a will, and there was no bequest made for you, you may bring a will contest however this would be difficult and would depend on certain circumstances.

Feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have. I hope to be of assistance.

Kind regards,

Peter Moulinos